12 celebrities who served people food before they became famous

There's a reason celebrities joke that everyone in Hollywood has waited tables at one point or another.

The restaurant industry offers evening hours, flexible scheduling, and an element of performance that appeals to those in the entertainment industry, which is why so many singers and actors started out taking drink orders and sweet-talking unruly customers.

While it's difficult to fathom the likes of Lady Gaga or Mariah Carey serving anyone, a slew of celebrities waited tables between going to auditions or recording their demos just to scrape by.

Here are 12 celebrities who have restaurants-to-riches stories.

Madelaine Petsch worked at a hookah lounge.

Before getting the part of biting, cherry-lipped Cheryl Blossom on "Riverdale,"Madelaine Petsch worked as a waitress at a hookah lounge, among other odd jobs. It definitely sounds like a far cry from the retro, wholesome allure of Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe.

Amy Adams waitressed at Hooters.

That's right: the trilling, dreamy Princess Giselle worked at Hooters after high school. "... It was a great job out of high school and I was a hostess at first, and then I waited tables for a while, and it was great," she told Entertainment Tonight. "It was a great way for me to earn money for college."

Chris Rock scraped shrimp at Red Lobster.

"I used to scrape shrimp into the garbage can and then load up the dishwasher," he has said on stage. "I never got a raise, I never got a promotion. They kept me in the back because I had really f----- up teeth."

Word to the wise: if Chris Rock blesses your restaurant, put him front and center.